China's Massive Ponzi Scheme

The Renaissance is marked with a revival of former trade routes and the discovery of new ones. Since Italy was at the intersection of old and new trade routes, it was the region where cultural flowering was most notable. This cultural flowering was found not only in libraries, workshops and churches but in kitchens as well. By combining noodles, coming from China, with tomatoes, coming from the Americas, Italy invented a new culinary creation: pasta.

Several hundreds years later, another cultural movement is being marked by a revival of former trade routes and the discovery of new ones: Globalization. This time, however, the most notable country is China. By combining a financial system, coming from America, with Ponzi's scheme, coming from Italy, China invented a more elaborate version of Carlo's infamous hustle that if it were to be named it could be called: massive Ponzi scheme.

China's massive Ponzi scheme gives foreigners the illusion that not only their private property will be protected in China, but their investments will be increasingly profitable as well. And so, driven by hope, more and more foreigners pour money into China. They buy shares of Chinese companies listed in exchanges around the globe. They directly invest in China by building brand recognition, research centers, factories, stores and restaurants. These foreigners receive validation to their decisions by the double digit growth that the Chinese government and Chinese companies report year after year.

But little do most foreigners know that a few of them, one by one, has lost more than their money by now. In addition to losing their money, these foreigners have also lost their brands, patents, copyright, merchandises, factories, buildings and even their liberty by way of extortion. These foreigners are the first wave of victims in China's massive Ponzi scheme. Although their testimonies could put into evidence China's machinations to foreigners who are about to invest there, they could also serve as the catalyst for the crumbling of China's skullduggery which will bring a second and, hopefully, final wave of foreign victims.